


recycled stardust and borrowed energy

by pawn_vs_player



Series: it takes and it takes and it takes (aka: Adrian writes fic to cope with Infinity War) [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Character Study, Gen, Infinity Gems, Stream of Consciousness, You Know What I'm Talking About, also fair warning, also the moment Everything Went Wrong, i have not seen Doctor Strange, idk fam i don't really ship it but damn if iw didn't have some Strong vibes, so my characterization is from Infinity War and Infinity War alone, strangeiron if you squint?? i guess??, that scene on Titan, the spinny head one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-04-30 12:16:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14496789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pawn_vs_player/pseuds/pawn_vs_player
Summary: INFINITY WAR SPOILERSThe Time Gem shines jade in Strange's hand, the color stark against the yellow dust and amber light of the world around it. The threads of infinite numbers of timelines are wrapped around his fingers, stretching out on an endless loom before him, waiting to be twisted into new shapes.There is only one where they win against Thanos on Titan. There are so many others where victory comes later, at a far higher price.There is so much that can be changed, but Strange knows one thing for certain: for victory to come, Tony Stark must live.((Title from Ke$ha's song "Spaceship".))





	recycled stardust and borrowed energy

**Author's Note:**

> yeah so when That Scene happened, when tony was bleeding out and strange offered up the time gem - i really thought he was going to use it himself, or get it to tony before thanos could take it... and then i was promptly disappointed when he didn't.  
> this is just a drabble about what Strange might have been thinking when he handed over the gem, or the timelines he saw. at some point i might add to this, make it a canon-divergence story where he doesn't give thanos the stone, but for right now, this is all i'm posting. apparently all i can write these days is <1000 word IW stuff. *sigh*  
> (the dialogue i lifted from the movie isn't 100% accurate, i saw it like 2 weeks ago and can't find a transcript)

Titan is a dead and barren world, populated with rusting wrecks and drifting memories. It is an old world, drained dry by its long-gone children and left to wither by its last son. Everything about it is awful, terrible, made worse with the knowledge that Earth is facing the same fate.

The Cloak wraps tighter around Strange's shoulders as he settles down into the familiar position. The amulet glows and lifts with a touch of his attention. This will not be pleasant, but it must be done.

The Time Gem shines jade against Strange's chest, the color stark against the yellow dust and amber light of the world around it. His head spins and warps, but he does not see it.

All he sees is green.

And then the threads of infinite numbers of timelines are wrapped around his fingers, stretching out on an endless loom before him, waiting to be twisted into new shapes.

There is one where they win against Thanos on Titan. There are so many others where victory comes later, at a far higher price.

If they win here, today - Quill will not last long. His heart is gone, sacrificed on frozen stone for an aborted victory. Mantis, without Quill or Gamora, will look to Drax; Drax, with leaders gone and Thanos dead, will drift until he finds somewhere to settle again. Nebula, her sister gone, will follow the 'Guardians' currently on Earth; her life is strife and challenge, always, unrelenting. Peter Parker will go home, and Tony Stark will bench him for a good two weeks until he remembers how terribly much the boy needs to help people. And Tony Stark will go back to Earth, seal himself away from the 'heroes' trooping back into the public eye, and pretend that marriage to a woman who has never been able to handle all of him is enough.

And if they fail here, today - everyone but Tony Stark and Nebula (and, sometimes, Mantis) will fall to dust in a matter of moments. And, sometimes, Thanos falls still, farther down the line, but falls nonetheless.

There is so much that can be changed, but Strange knows one thing for certain: for victory to come, now or in a far and terrible future, Tony Stark must live.

And right now, Tony Stark has a blade in his chest, and the genocidal maniac holding it is going to  _win_ , if Strange doesn't do something.  _Now._

"Stop," he says, and feels the infinite number of timelines snap away from him. There is one way, now. His path is set.

"Spare him, and I will give you the Gem."

Thanos turns, face interested. Tony looks at Strange with utter disbelief. He doesn't understand, but Strange doesn't have the time to make him understand. Tony Stark must live, and so Strange will make sure he will.

 

 

("There was no other way," he whispers, the dust of dead Guardians stinging his eyes, the numbness of his hands powdering away spreading up his chest. 

A ghost stands behind him, a ghost only Tony Stark can see.  _Don't waste your life,_ he says; don't waste the lives others have given up for you, he doesn't say, but Tony hears.

And then Strange is gone, and the man with steady hands blows away in the wind like so much dust.

Tony Stark kneels on the packed dirt of a dead planet, and does not cry. There is work to be done.)


End file.
